After his teaching experience at Beirut, Lebanon in 1974, he became professor at the Lille University of Science and Technology in 1977.[1] His thesis focuses on vocational training in France[2]

In 1988, he joined the Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications (Centre for Studies and Research on Qualifications) in Paris, researching relations between the sociology of education and work, and especially the sociology of professional identities.